by Kat Martin
“Who runs the operation?”
“How the hell would I know? You think they’d tell me? I just keep the women in line.”
“What about Burke? Who’s his boss?”
When he didn’t answer, Jase cuffed the back of his head with the pistol.
“All I know is Burke makes a cash run to Dallas every Tuesday. That’s it.” He tipped up his chin. “You can go ahead and pull the trigger—but if you do, you’re as dead as I am.”
For an instant, Jase’s fingers tightened around the pistol grip, then he stepped away.
“What about calling the police?” Kate asked.
Jase looked at Marvin. “What do you think, Marv? Maybe we can make a deal. We let you go, you tell them I got away and keep your mouth shut about what you told me. That way your employers don’t kill you, and we don’t have to deal with the cops.”
Marvin warily lifted his head, pondering the notion.
“It’s your choice,” Jase said. “But odds are you’re dead if they find out you talked.”
Recognizing the truth in his words, Marvin slowly nodded.
To make it look good, Reese holstered his gun and pulled out a pair of zip ties like the ones Marvin had used on Jase. He pulled the guy’s hands behind the chair and used the zip ties to keep him there, also bound his ankles. Kate stuffed a washrag into his mouth and tied it with a strip torn off a terry-cloth hand towel.
“Let’s go,” Jase said. He checked the door to be sure no one was in the hall, and they moved quickly out of the room toward the back stairs, then outside to the vehicles.
“She’s with me,” Jase said to Reese when they reached the Yukon. As if Kate would have let him drive away without her. The man had been stunned, beaten and suffered a head injury. She had no idea how badly he was hurt.
Reese nodded. “I’ll see you back at the apartment.” He strode off toward the Rover.
When Jase reached the driver’s side, Kate moved in front of him. “Not happening, big guy. I’m driving.”
She thought he would argue, but instead, he went around and slowly climbed into the passenger seat. Kate slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Her tension didn’t ease till they were home.
Kate returned from the bathroom with a cool cloth for Jase’s head. He sat on the sofa in the living room, his head resting against the back. Reese had come by to make sure he was okay, then left for his apartment at the other end of the hall.
“How are you feeling?” Kate asked as she gently placed the cloth on his forehead.
His eyes cracked open. “I’ll be damned glad when those ibuprofens kick in. Other than that, I’m okay.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t get there sooner.”
He sat up on the sofa, the cloth falling into his lap. “You did exactly right. The stun gun threw me. I wasn’t expecting that. Even after they dragged me into the storeroom, I figured I could find a way to take them down. I wasn’t really worried because...”
“Because...?”
“Because I knew you had my back.”
“You mean Reese.”
His expression darkened, turned almost fierce. “I mean you.”
Warmth spread through her. She thought of the decision she had made and that she had been right to go in. “I did what I thought was best.”
“Reese said your instincts were spot-on.”
She shrugged. “I guess I’m starting to know how you think. I knew you would have found a way to get word to us if you could have.”
“I couldn’t ask for a better partner, Kate.”
Her heart squeezed. They were good together in a lot of different ways. She wished Jason could see that.
“We didn’t call the cops. Are you feeling up to telling me why not?”
He leaned back and closed his eyes, replaced the cold cloth on his forehead. “Because if we had, they would have raided Paradise Massage, but the other locations would just close up shop and move somewhere else. The only way we’re going to stop these guys is to find the men at the top.”
“What about the girls?”
He sat up again, set the cloth on the end table. “From what I saw, most of them were lifers. Probably been arrested for soliciting half a dozen times. A girl named Eve was marked with the lipstick tattoo. She was definitely a victim. With any luck, we’ll get her out of there soon.”
Kate hoped so. She couldn’t help thinking of her sister and what she had suffered.
“The thing is, Eve said they sold young girls,” Jase continued. “They’re high-end product, and they keep them at a different location. If they’ve got Callie Spencer, that’s where she’ll be. We find the men at the top, we get those girls out, too. And once the men are locked up, we don’t have to keep looking over our shoulders for someone trying to shoot us.”
He was right. Waiting was their best chance of success and their only real option if they wanted to stay alive. “So how do we find them?”
“Duff said Harlan Burke makes a cash run to Dallas every Tuesday. We follow Burke and he’ll lead us to the guys up the ladder. One more rung closer to the top.”
“You think Duff will actually keep quiet?”
“Los Besos plays for keeps. Duff knows that. Good ol’ Marv is going to convince them I was just some guy, not a cop and not any kind of threat to them. He’s got no choice—if he wants to live.”
“So you think Burke will make the cash run.”
“Why not? The cops aren’t going to show up because we didn’t call them. I think Burke will keep doing his job. If he makes a run to Dallas, we’ll follow him, get the info we need.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“You dumb fuck. I give you a simple task and you botch it.” Harlan Burke sat across from Marvin Duff in the downstairs office at Paradise Massage the following morning.
“I told you—the guy got hold of my stun gun. You saw what a big bastard he was. He zapped me, left me half dazed, tied me up and got away.”
“You said he wasn’t a cop.”
“That’s what he said. Cops never showed up, so he must have been telling the truth.”
“So what the hell was he doing here?”
“Said he just wanted some company. Said he got his rocks off just talking to a hooker. We get guys like that once in a while, just want some female attention.”
“Not guys who look like that,” Harlan said. “Hard to believe that guy has a problem with women. What the hell was Eve telling him?”
“She said he just wanted to know how she wound up being a prostitute, so she told him about her no-good boyfriend. Could be the guy was just lonely.”
Harlan stood up behind the desk. “We’ll keep an eye out, but unless something happens, we’re better off ignoring the whole damn thing.”
“What about Veronica? You gonna tell her what happened?”
Harlan grunted. “Not likely. You never know which side that bitch is gonna to take.”
“Whatever side does her the most good,” Marvin said darkly.
“Like I said, we’ll keep an eye out. Aside from that, I’ve got work to do and so do you.”
Marvin just nodded. He couldn’t remember feeling so relieved.
* * *
Jase spent Monday setting up surveillance he hoped would lead to Harlan Burke’s run to Dallas, which was supposed to happen the next day. The strip mall across the street from the massage parlor provided a place to park the Yukon, just one of more than a dozen vehicles mostly hidden by a row of trees.
If the run went down, they would follow Burke’s car the first 150 miles of the 240-mile route back to Dallas. Jax Ryker would be waiting in Fairfield to take over and follow the car to its final destination.
Since Burke had never seen Kate or the Yukon, she would be driving while Jase kept a low profile in the passenger seat.
They were packed, loaded and waiting Tuesday morning, hoping like hell Burke didn’t change his schedule. The massage parlor opened at ten. Jase had taken a risk that Burke wouldn’t leave much earlier than that, but they couldn’t afford to be spotted, and he figured a whorehouse was a late-night business. Not likely Burke would be an early riser.
It turned out to be a long day of waiting. Hot and sticky the first half of the day, the wind kicking up in the afternoon. Jase was grateful for the breeze.
All day long, men and women streamed in and out of the massage parlor, some actually there for the low-cost massages the business offered, others, he figured, heading upstairs for women to service their needs.
As the afternoon heated up and the car got hotter inside, Kate napped for a while, then went into the deli and bought sandwiches and Cokes. Then Jase napped while Kate kept watch.
It was late afternoon when he focused his binoculars on a white four-door Audi driving out of the alley behind the building in the direction that led to the interstate.
“It’s him,” Jase said, sliding low in the seat. “Give him a minute to get on the road.”
The Audi pulled into traffic and Kate started the engine.
“Stay as far back as you can. Odds are he’s heading up I-45. That’s the fastest route.”
The Audi disappeared around a corner, and Kate kept her distance but maintained the same speed. “What if he’s watching for a tail?”
“If he is, he won’t be expecting a woman.”
She eased back on the gas, giving Burke a chance to pull even farther ahead. The Audi drove onto the Sam Houston Tollway and they followed a safe distance behind, giving Burke as much room as they could without the risk of losing him.
Once the Audi merged onto I-45, Jase began to relax. “It’s a long way to Dallas. Stay back as far as you can and just keep pace with him. There’s plenty of traffic on the road heading north. If we’re lucky and Marvin Duff kept his mouth shut, Burke won’t be expecting anyone on his tail.”
The trip progressed exactly as Jase hoped. He phoned Jax Ryker, and let him know they were on their way and should be in Fairfield in a couple of hours.
“Keep me posted,” Jax said. “I’ll be there before you get there.”
When they reached Fairfield, Burke pulled into a service station on the edge of town. Kate drove past, took the next off-ramp while Jase phoned Ryker. When the Audi drove back onto I-45, Ryker picked up the tail and followed the car toward the city.
Jase traded places with Kate and drove the rest of the way to Dallas well out of Burke’s sight, receiving updates from Jax along the way. Then the call came in Jase had been waiting for.
“Burke just pulled up in the parking lot of a place called the Blue Bayou. It’s an upscale nightclub on Elm Street.” Several minutes passed. “Burke just went inside carrying a briefcase,” Jax said. “Looks like you got what you needed.”
“Looks like. Thanks, bro, I owe you.”
“We aren’t going in tonight, are we?” Kate asked.
“No. We’ll drive by, get a feel for it, go in tomorrow night.”
“Good. I definitely need a shower and a change of clothes.”
“Yeah, me, too. In the meantime, I need to talk to Tabby, see who owns the place, get as much info as we can.”
Jase set the nav system for the address Jax had given him. The club was jumping as he cruised past, a line of patrons out the door and halfway down the block. The customers were expensively dressed, a crowd of twenty- and thirtysomethings with plenty of money to spend.
Tomorrow night he’d pay the club a visit, see what he could find out. He was sure Kate would demand to go with him. Which in this case would be good. A couple would blend in better than him going by himself.
Jase sighed into the quiet inside the Yukon. At least the club wasn’t in Old East Dallas—and it was a whole lot classier than Mean Jack’s.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
By nightfall, they were back in Dallas—but still on Los Besos’ hit list. Which meant returning to their homes wasn’t an option. Of course they couldn’t stay in hiding forever, but they were making progress—or at least Jase believed they were.
Fortunately, Reese planned to be in Houston for another week and had volunteered the use of his recently purchased penthouse condominium. His ex-wife had gotten his fancy Bluffview home as part of the divorce settlement, which Reese didn’t seem to mind.
Jase didn’t think their marriage had ever been a passionate love match, more a practical financial arrangement, since Sandra Montgomery Garrett’s family was Dallas elite, same as Reese’s.
“Wow, this is some place,” Kate said as they carried their bags out of the private elevator and set them down in the entry. Lots of glass and polished dark wood floors, a sleekly modern high-ceilinged interior done in cream with gold and aqua accents. “It was really nice of Reese to let us use it.”
“He’s a great guy.”
Kate flicked him a glance. “Funny, he said the same about you.”
Good to know Reese was trying to help him out. He wondered if his friend actually believed there could be some kind of future for him and Kate.
Instead of a reply, Jase grabbed Kate’s rolling carry-on, tossed his heavy gear bag over his shoulder and led her down the hall toward the bedrooms in the guest wing. He went into one of the bedrooms, tossed his bag up on the king-size bed.
They’d been sleeping together since the night of the failed stakeout at the truck stop. He knew it wasn’t smart, that it would only make things harder on both of them when it was over, but being the selfish bastard he was, he wasn’t giving her up until he had to.
“This work for you?” he asked.
Her chin tipped up. “I like sleeping with you, Jason. I like the way you make me feel. So yes. If it works for you, it works for me.”
Something squeezed hard in his chest. He wanted to tell her that having her in his bed definitely worked for him, that he liked sleeping beside her, liked everything about her. He wanted to say that if things were different, he wouldn’t let her go.
Kate went to work unpacking the few belongings she had brought with her, setting her toiletries in the bathroom while Jase phoned Tabby.
She picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Hawk, I was about to text you. Did you get those bios I sent on Schram and Wiedel?”
“Things have been a little hectic, Tab. I’ll take a look at them as soon as we get off the phone.”
“On the surface, they both look clean. I can go deeper if you want.”
“There’s something I need more. According to my latest info, there are at least two more massage parlors in the Houston area linked to the Paradise that are running women. At least one of them may be selling underage girls. I need the names and addresses.”
“I’ll take a look, see if I can connect the dots.”
“Great. Also, I got a lead on a nightclub here in Dallas called the Blue Bayou. Upscale nightclub on Elm Street. It’s also connected in some way. I’m not sure how. Kate and I are heading over there tomorrow night. Anything you can come up with before we go in would really help.”
“I’ll get back to you.” Tabby ended the call.
Jase went into the kitchen, which was a gourmet chef’s dream. He set up his laptop on the modern dark wood kitchen table and brought up his email, checked out the bios Tabby had sent on Schram and Wiedel, who apparently were big real estate developers. One of their corporate entities owned the building that housed Paradise Massage, but real estate was real estate—didn’t mean they were involved in human trafficking.
In the meantime, he went online to check out the Blue Bayou, which appeared to be one of the hottest, most lavish clubs in town. Under different circumstances, he would have enjoyed taking Kate.
The way things were now, he’d be worried about keeping her alive.
* * *
The following day, with big plans for the evening, Kate needed clothes. Instead of taking a chance on their residences being monitored and someone from Los Besos following them back to Reese’s, Jason drove her out to the Galleria, careful to be sure they weren’t being tailed on the way.
“No reason to worry at the moment,” Jase said. “We’ve been keeping a low profile. Even my office doesn’t know where we are.”
“Mine, either.”
He nodded, trusting her to make that decision. Kate realized Jase trusted her more every day.
Once inside the huge shopping mall just off the Dallas Parkway, he checked their surroundings, then left Kate in a small boutique next to two more women’s apparel shops.
“Don’t go anywhere else,” he said. “I’ll be back to get you in thirty minutes.”
Typical male. How did a woman shop for a night at a ritzy club in thirty minutes? He could just wait, she decided, until she was finished.
She bought expensive French lingerie in the first boutique, hit the jackpot at the second store with a sexy black cocktail dress. The dress was super short and fitted; narrow straps on the bodice sparkled with glittering black sequins. The outfit desperately called for a pair of black high heels, which she found at the third shop: strappy, sky-high Jimmy Choos she couldn’t afford and couldn’t resist.
At the third shop, she also found a dress on the sale rack in case they had to go back a second night. This one was pink, with a flirty little skirt trimmed in black that she could wear with the same high heels. She bought a pair of dangly rhinestone earrings, and she was set.
She was just grabbing her shopping bags to go back to the boutique when Jason appeared in the doorway. “You ready?”
“What, you aren’t going to yell at me for leaving the first store?”
His mouth edged into a grin. “You’re a woman. Women love to shop. I figured you were smart enough to stay close, and you were.”
She laughed. She glanced down at the bags he was carrying. “You going to show me what you bought?”